Sakura Falls with the Passing of Time
by WhereThereIsHope
Summary: Post-ending, Chizuru's life without Hijikata, how she moves on, and how she holds on. Chizuru struggles to cope on her own, find the remaining Shinsengumi captains, if anyone is alive, deal with her grief, and build a life without Hijikata. Things get harder when she finds what Hijikata left with her on this earth... Hijikata x Chizuru. Rated T for safety. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I took down this story to rewrite the first chapter. I actually changed a lot less than I thought I would. Yay! **

**So this is my first fanfiction, but I love to write, so you'll be seeing a lot more, I'm sure. I'm a major Hakuouki fan, so you'll see a lot of those fanfics. So read and review my story, tell me how you liked it, where you want the story to go, if you think I should change anything, or if people seem too out of character. I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>For a moment, time stopped.<p>

Chizuru watched, frozen, as Hijikata-san and Kazama stopped in the middle of the fight. They were so close; she couldn't see who had stabbed whom. They both held the same determined look in their eyes, staring each other down. The sakura petals settled, and she noticed as the looks on their faces changed, Kazama's to slight shock and Hijikata's to satisfied triumph. Chizuru hadn't realized she was holding her breath until she let it out. Hijikata pulled his sword out of Kazama's gut, and the oni fell to the ground, dead at last. Hijikata stood, looked at his opponent, then turned his gaze to her, his love. She only had the briefest moment to smile at him, in relief and happiness, before his legs collapsed from under him. Chizuru screamed his name and ran to him as quickly as she could. He fell to his knees, eyes looking to the last sight he'd ever see, the sakura blossoms, the moon, and the stars beyond.

The proud warrior that Chizuru had come to know and love with all her heart, with determination and strength of steel swords, had fallen. He had sworn that he'd never let Kazama lay a hand on her, he'd promised to protect her until his dying day, and he had fulfilled both of them. But now he lay dying as she pulled his head onto her lap.

"Hijikata-san? Can you hear me? Stay with me, please! I love you! Toshi! I love you so much, you're my world, you can't leave me!" She pleaded, tears gathering in her eyes. Hijikata had asked her the previous night to call him Toshi, as Kondou-san had. She tried, but she had never addressed someone by their first name, and without honorifics before. She had thought she'd have more time to get used to it, but now…

"What will I do without you?" She whispered. She grabbed his hand and held it to her lips. Hijikata uttered a soft moan. "Toshi, can you hear me?" She shouted, desperately.

He didn't even open his eyes, but fighting to get the words out, he whispered his last words to her. "Chi… zuru? I am… s-so sorry. I-I love you... with everything… I have…" His voice trailed off, and his hand went limp in hers, his head went still.

She knew he was gone.

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><p>After Hijikata professed his love for Chizuru, and she returned his feelings, they didn't want to wait. They both knew that any day, Hijikata could die in battle, and neither wanted to hide their feelings and their affection any longer. They were meant for one another, and the love they had would never fade. They decided to get married, so that for however much longer they had, they would have the most sacred bond. Chizuru would be Hijikata's wife, and he her husband. They would live for one another, and fight for one another.<p>

They went to a temple and had Otori marry them under a sakura tree. It was simple, only the ceremony with no one else there, but they had wanted to be married as quickly as possible. Time was precious to them as it was to the sakura, life was fleeting. They sent letters saying that they had married to Nagakura and Shimada and though they hadn't heard from Saito since the battle of Aizu, they sent one to him too, with the hope that he was alive to receive it.

After, they were inseparable, even more so than they had been before, spending every second together. They were two of a kind, a surprising, unlikely, but perfect fit. Her kind, gentle nature balanced out his harsh, demonic demeanor. She had taught him how to be compassionate, and she would raise his spirits when they lost a battle. She would still make him tea every night and coax him to bed so that he wouldn't work himself to death. He had taught her bravery, the true meaning of courage, and sincerity. From him she had learned determination, to never let her will bend, how to stand and fight for what she believed in, and she believed in him.

They were both so different from that frigid, snowy winter night when they'd first laid eyes on one another. Hijikata had lit the fire of determination in Chizuru's heart, and she'd reawakened his.

The month after their wedding had been pure bliss…then neared the end of May, all of the sakura nearly done falling, and the battle at the Goryokaku Fortress.

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><p>Hijikata had been shot, and as Chizuru carried him away from the battle, that's when they encountered Kazama. Even wounded, he fought to protect her till his last breath, and now he was gone. He was her world, what would she do without him? Looking back, she thought of all the captains, how they had welcomed her, how she had formed such a bond with them, and trusted them with her life. She had come to Kyoto looking for her father, but she had found things much more important. She had found her purpose in them, in the Shinsengumi.<p>

Chizuru looked to the dawning sky, and swore she saw the Sincerity flag, with all of the Shinsengumi captains standing proudly beneath it, in the sky that was blue as their haori. She closed her eyes and the tears finally started to fall. She felt a soft, calloused hand gently wipe away her tears. She slowly opened her eyes, and she couldn't believe it! It was Hijikata, standing tall, not a drop of blood on his coat. He looked so at peace, his amethyst eyes unclouded with troubles. He whispered the sweetest sound she'd ever heard, him saying her name, "Chizuru."

Then the world faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is a just a short one, but important, nonetheless. Please enjoy!**

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><p>Chizuru's head pounded. She became aware that she was lying on something hard. Her eyelids felt like lead.<p>

She thought, _"Alright, on the count of three; One, two, three!" _

She slowly lifted her eyelids, and noticed she was lying on the cold ground, sakura petals surrounding her. She wondered why she was there as her vision came into focus. She quickly sat up.

_"__Where am I? How did I get here, and why?"_ She remembered helping Hijikata here. _"Wh- where is he?" _She had a horrible feeling in her gut. She turned around. She suddenly remembered.

What she saw shocked her to the core. Her Hijikata-san, on the ground, eyes closed, face paler than she'd ever seen, even when he'd been awake for days and fatigued. She began trembling uncontrollably. She spun on her knees toward him and took his still hand in her shaking one.

Cold, lifeless.

Chizuru held her hand in front of his mouth and nose. Nothing. No warmth of breath. She panicked, screaming, "No, nononononono, no NO! It can't be! Hijikata! Toshizo! Toshi! Can you hear me?! Answer me! No, you can't be gone! You're still here, answer me!" She kissed him and willed him to come back. She just couldn't believe it, and she was in denial.

But he never answered. He never moved. He was not breathing. She came to the realization that he couldn't hear her, and that he was gone.

She screamed to the sky and sobbed to the earth. She didn't think the tears would ever stop.

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><p>Each and every time a Shinsengumi captain died, it broke her heart, over and over again. She had grown close to them, and she cared about them all deeply, even loved them. But the day Hijikata died…That was the day her heart shattered into millions of pieces. And she knew it would never heal from this.<p>

Chizuru had cried all her tears. She saw that it was midday, and she didn't want to leave him. But she had to get back to the camp and tell them, so that they could give him a proper burial.

But it was just impossible to stand. She felt… nothing. She was soulless and empty. Every breath was a battle. She saw no point in living anymore. If she could have died right then and there, she would have. She couldn't imagine how she would go on living without him.

But the worst was yet to come.

She just found her legs, and picked herself off the ground. She took one last look at the love of her life, the one she was meant to love before she was born, and the one she would always love, to her death and beyond. Forever.

And she started walking.


End file.
